Improvement in mining-sluices



J. ROBINSON. Mining-Sluice.

No. 221,742. Patented Nov. 18. 1879.

WITNE s SE '5 #LPETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON n c UNITED STATESPATENT CFFIGE.

JOSEPH M. ROBINSON, OF EUREKA MILL, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MlNlNG-SLUICES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 221,742, dated November18, 1879; application filed August 11, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osEPH M. RoBnvsoN, of Eureka Mill, county ofPlumas, and State of California, have invented an ImprovedMining-Sluice; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description thereof.

My invention consists in combining with a sluice-trough a siphondischarge-pipe.

It also consists in mounting the sluice-trough section andsiphon-discharge on trunnions, whereby the relative heights of thetroughsection and discharging end of the siphon may be changed at will.

In the drawing the figure shows a perspective view of my invention.

In the stamp-mills in common use in the mining sections the mills aredivided up into batteries containing five stamps each. Any desirednumber of these batteries may beplaced in line, and in front of each oneis a series of amalgamating-plates, over which the material flows into asluice, the sluices from all these batteries leading to acommon sluice,into which all discharge. The main sluice conveys the tailings away tothe place of deposit. Notwithstanding the precautions which are taken, acertain proportion of the precious metals escape with the tailings intothe sluice, and is lost. The object of my invention is to reduce thisloss by placing at the end of the main sluice a peculiarly-constructedsluice-section, through which the material must all flow, and in whichthe escaping particles of gold, quicksilver, &c., are caught and saved.In case there are pans in use in the mill, their tailings are alsoconducted into the main sluice to be conveyed away from the mill, sothat all the material passing away has to pass through my sluice-sectionbefore it can escape.

At the end of the main sluice I place my curved sluice-section A,mounting it on an axle or shaft, a, which fits in the bearings or boxesb, as shown. At the upper end of this sluice-section is a hopper, B,into which the tailings'flow from the main sluice, and below the hopperis a trough, c, a foot or more deep. From this trough the sluice-sectioninclines upward, as shown at c, to the neck d of the section, and thenceit inclines downward sharply, as shown at e, the whole be- With thecurrent.

ing somewhat of a siphon shape. At the outer or lower end, which isconsiderably lower than the hopper and trough, is a gate, f, controllingthe flow from the sluice. If the water from any one of the batteries isshut off at any time, this gate f in the discharge-pipe 6 can be closeda little, so as to keep the section full of water and sealed from theair. If, for instance, the trough of the section is afoot deeper thanthe hopper, and the distance from the bottom of the trough c to thebottom of the neck (1, or highest point to which the water must rise toescape down the discharge portion 0, is also a foot, and the lower endof the discharge-pipe 6 were on a level with the hopper, said hopperbeing the height of the neck, the water would flow through the sectionof its own volition; but when sand, tailings, &c., are brought into thesluice with the water, this will settle at the bottom and remainthere,because there is no force to throw it out, and the section wouldbecome choked. To prevent this I lengthen my discharge-pipe econsiderably, and bring its lower end lower than the hopper, the siphonprinciple being then brought into action to relieve the sluice and drawthe material with the water up the incline c to the neck, whence itpasses down and out. Any desired length may be given to thedischarge-pipe, enough only being required to throw out the sand andlight sulphurets, leaving .the gold and particles of mercury, heavysulphurets, &c., in the sluice.

The platform on which the section stands is so placed that the hopperwill come under the end of the main sluice from the mill, and lowenough, so that the end with the hopper may be raised or depressed atwill. When one end is raised the other end is correspondingly depressed,which motion will regulate the working of the machine to a certainextent. This is rendered possible by the section being mounted ontheaxle, as shown, so it may be oscillated at will. The block D under thehop per is removable, so that blocks of different sizes may besubstituted to regulate the inclination of the section.

As the material passes into the sluice-section, on dropping from thehopper into the trough, it is compelled to move up the incline Thelighter particles do little above the neck, and by having a gate in thiseasily; but the quicksilverglobnles and heavier particles of gold andother precious metals by their gravity will remain below and not riseupward, being thus caught in the sluice. If the water is not allowed torun over the hopper, the floured quicksilver will remain on top of thewater in the hopper until an aggregation of particles takes place, whenit will gravitate to the bottom of the sluice and be saved the same asgold or other heavy mate rial.

In starting the sluice the hopper is raised a the end of the main sluicethis gate will, when closed a moment, give a head of water suflicient tocrowd it through the section and force the air out of thedischarge-pipe. The siphon being thus started, the long column of waterwill continue to draw the material up the incline of the section as longas the supply is I continued. Power is thus gained sufficient to drawthe tailings through the inclined sluice without drawing out theprecious metals. The

water has an even and easy flow through all parts of the sluice alike,anclIcan, of course, apply any amount of power equal to atmosphericpressure, or as little as I desire, the inclination being regulated aswell as the flow through the section.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The sluice-trough section 0, in combination with the siphondischarge-pipe c d, as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The sluice-trough section 0 and siphon discharge-pipe c d, mountedupon and in combination with the trunnions a and support 11, asdescribed.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, July 23, 1879.

J. M. ROBINSON. [L. 8.]

Witnesses:

I. I. HILLS, WILLIAM FORD.

